Did a certified used oil collection center avoid cleanup costs for oil produced by its own oil-change shop?

Plain-English summary

In 2004, the California Attorney General held that a certified used oil collection center's exemption from a state hazardous-substance cleanup cost recovery action did not cover oil generated by its own oil-change business. The exemption's wording covered material received from the public as used oil, provided it was properly handled and transported to an authorized facility. Oil generated while the center serviced vehicles was a different source.

The opinion pointed to related statutes and regulations that separated public drop-off oil from oil generated on site. It also noted that the responsible state department had consistently applied the exemption only to public collections. The AG left any expansion of the exemption to the Legislature.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2004. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

How the opinion applied to the parties

Certified collection centers

Certification alone did not bring every gallon of oil handled on the premises within the exemption. The opinion distinguished material brought in by the public from oil generated by the center's separate service operation.

Automotive oil-change businesses

A shop that also operated a certified center could not claim this particular cost recovery exemption for oil produced by its own oil changes under the law reviewed.

Environmental regulators

The opinion approved the department's interpretation limiting this exemption to oil received from the public. It addressed this statutory cost recovery exemption rather than every possible form of liability.

Common questions

Q: Did the exemption cover oil customers dropped off for recycling? A: The opinion treated oil received from the public as within the exemption's stated category, subject to the statutory handling and transport conditions.

Q: Did the same exemption cover oil from the center's own oil changes? A: No. The AG said the center generated that oil in a separate business activity; it was not received from the public as used oil.

Q: Did operating a certified collection center erase all cleanup liability? A: No. The opinion interpreted one exemption from a particular state cost recovery action and rejected its extension to the center's own generated oil.

Background and statutory framework

The hazardous-substance cleanup law allowed the state to recover response costs from responsible parties. Section 25366.5 created a limited exemption for certified used oil centers handling material received from the public. The Attorney General read those limiting words alongside the separate categories of collected and generated oil in the used oil program.

Citations and references

The opinion interpreted section 25366.5 of the Health and Safety Code and discussed Public Resources Code section 48600.

Source

• Landing page: https://oag.ca.gov/opinions/yearly-index
• Original PDF: https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/opinions/pdfs/03-1205.pdf

Original opinion text

TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
State of California
BILL LOCKYER
Attorney General

OPINION
of
BILL LOCKYER
Attorney General
DANIEL G. STONE
Deputy Attorney General

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No. 03-1205
September 9, 2004

THE HONORABLE DEAN FLOREZ, MEMBER OF THE STATE SENATE,
has requested an opinion on the following question:
Does a certified used oil collection center’s liability exemption for used oil collected from the public apply to used oil generated by the collection center’s own oilchange business?

CONCLUSION
A certified used oil collection center’s liability exemption for used oil collected from the public does not apply to used oil generated by the collection center’s own oilchange business.

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ANALYSIS
The Legislature has enacted a comprehensive statutory scheme, the CarpenterPresley-Tanner Hazardous Substance Account Act (Health & Saf. Code, §§ 2530025395.45; “Act”),1 authorizing corrective actions to be taken whenever releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances occur in the state. The program is operated by the California Environmental Protection Agency (§ 25310.5) and its Department of Toxic Substances Control (§ 25312; “Department”). When the Department takes a responsive action to a release or potential release of a hazardous substance (§§ 25355-25359.7), its costs are recoverable from those responsible for the release (§§ 25360, 25363, subd. (e)). The question presented for resolution concerns one particular exemption from liability that the Legislature has granted for such “clean up” costs. Subdivision (a) of section 25366.5 directs that “any person operating a certified used oil collection center . . . shall not be held liable in any cost recovery action” instituted by the Department with respect to “material received from the public as used oil”: “Any public agency operating a household hazardous waste collection program or any person operating such a program under a written agreement with a public agency, or, for material received from the public as used oil, any person operating a certified used oil collection center as provided in Section 48660 of the Public Resources Code, shall not be held liable in any cost recovery action brought pursuant to Section 25360, including, but not limited to, any action to recover the fees imposed by Section 25343 or any action brought pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 25363, for any waste that has been properly handled and transported to an authorized hazardous waste treatment, storage, or disposal facility at a location other than that of the collection program.” (Italics added.) We are asked whether section 25366.5’s exemption from liability “for material received from the public as used oil” also applies to used oil generated by a collection center’s own oil-change business. We conclude that it does not. As indicated in section 25366.5, the operation of a certified used oil collection center is subject to the provisions of the Public Resources Code. (See Pub. Resources Code,
§§ 48600-48691.) Public Resources Code section 48600 provides:

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References hereafter to the Health and Safety Code are by section number only.

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“The Legislature finds and declares the following:
“(a) The problem posed by used oil disposal requires a comprehensive, statewide response, including, but not limited to, eliminating illegal disposal, reducing landfill disposal of used oil, reducing pollution from stormwater runoff, recycling of used oil into new uses, and the promotion of secondary markets for recycled oil products. “(b) That the improper or illegal disposal of used oil, often mixed with other solid waste, is a potential source of stormwater pollution and that environmental education and mitigation efforts regarding proper management of used oil and oil byproducts is within the purposes of this chapter. “(c) California currently generates about 161 million gallons of used lubricating and industrial oil each year, and only about 50 percent of that oil is recycled. “(d) The scarcity of used oil collection centers and programs, and the charges imposed on consumers for recycling used oil, create economic disincentives for recycling that could be addressed through a recycling incentive program. “(e) Used oil represents a valuable state resource that should be reclaimed and recycled whenever possible. An abundance of used oil recycling alternatives exist that have been demonstrated to be environmentally safe. These alternatives need to be promoted in order to achieve the maximum use of used oil and prevent damage to the environment. “(f) It is the intent of the Legislature to reduce the illegal disposal of used oil and recycle and reclaim used oil to the greatest extent possible in order to recover valuable natural resources and to avoid damage to the environment and threats to public health.” Separate from its collection activities, a certified used oil collection center may conduct an automotive business, such as a repair shop, service station, or “quick-lube” facility, on its premises. In these circumstances, does the exemption from liability contained in section 25366.5 apply to the used oil that is generated by the collection center’s own oilchange business?

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Our interpretation of section 25366.5 is guided by well established canons of statutory interpretation. “The fundamental rule of statutory construction is that the court should ascertain the intent of the Legislature so as to effectuate the purpose of the law.
[Citations.]” (Select Base Materials v. Board of Equal. (1959) 51 Cal.2d 640, 645.) In seeking the Legislature’s intent, we look first to the words used in the statute itself (California Teachers Assn. v. San Diego Community College Dist. (1981) 28 Cal.3d 692, 698), giving the words their usual and ordinary meanings (Lungren v. Deukmejian (1988) 45 Cal.3d 727, 735). Also, “ ‘statutes or statutory sections relating to the same subject must be harmonized, both internally and with each other, to the extent possible.’ ” (Walnut Creek Manor v. Fair Employment & Housing Com. (1991) 54 Cal.3d 245, 268.) “ ‘A statute must be construed “in the context of the entire statutory system of which it is a part . . . .” ’ ” (People v. Hull (1991) 1 Cal.4th 266, 272.) Finally, “[u]nless unreasonable or clearly contrary to the statutory language or purpose, the consistent construction of a statute by an agency charged with responsibility for its implementation is entitled to great deference.
[Citation.]” (Dix v. Superior Court (1991) 53 Cal.3d 442, 460.) Applying these principles of statutory interpretation, we find that section 25366.5 contains an express limitation: “for material received from the public as used oil.” The Legislature has repeatedly distinguished between used oil collected from the public and used oil generated by a certified used oil collection center’s own oil-change business. (See, e.g., Pub. Resources Code, §§ 48651, subd. (a) [used oil “collected from the public” and used oil “generated by the certified used oil collection center”]; 48660, subd. (b)(2) [“used lubricating oil brought to the center in containers” and “centers that generate used lubricating oil by servicing motor vehicles”]. In keeping with these differences drawn by the Legislature, the California Integrated Waste Management Board, which administers the certified used oil collection center program (Pub. Resources Code, § 48640), has also distinguished between the two sources of used oil in its adopted regulations. (See, e.g., Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, § 18655.2, subd. (b) [used oil “collected from the public” and used oil “generated on-site by the used oil collection center”].) More significantly, in administering the Act’s provisions, the Department has consistently interpreted section 25366.5 as providing an exemption from liability only for used oil collected from the public and not for used oil generated by a collection center in conducting its own oil-change business. Whether the exemption of section 25366.5 should be extended to used oil generated by a collection center is for the Legislature to determine. If it wishes to treat both sources of used oil the same, it knows how to do so. (See Pub. Resources Code, § 48651; Safer v. Superior Court (1975) 15 Cal.3d 230, 237-238; Board of Trustees v. Judge (1975) 50 Cal.App.3d 920, 927.) All that we decide here is that the Act, as currently written, 4

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provides a liability exemption with respect to used oil “received from the public” and not for used oil generated by a collection center’s own separate business. The distinction drawn between the two sources of used oil constitutes a reasonable exercise of legislative discretion.2 We conclude that a certified used oil collection center’s liability exemption for used oil collected from the public does not apply to used oil generated by the collection center’s own oil-change business.

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We note that the Legislature has provided an additional incentive for an automotive oil-change business to act as a collection center. (See Pub. Resources Code, §§ 48651, 48660.)

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